The Vancouver Olympics are three weeks away, but for those of you who believe surfing is Santa Barbara’s premier winter sport, this week is your chance to root for the Stars and Stripes.
Santa Barbarans make up a full quarter of this year’s Pac-Sun USA Surf Team that just arrived in Piha, New Zealand to compete in the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship starting on Wednesday.
Conner Coffin, Parker Coffin and Lakey Peterson give SB a hefty presence in New Zealand, where they will be seeking gold medals to help Team USA beat out the world’s top surfing nations.
USA Surf Team members Parker Coffin, left, Lakey Peterson, and Conner Coffin, right, with head coach Ian Cairns.
The three are part of a 12-man roster comprised of the country’s best surfers under the age of 18, split into three groups competing in Under-18 boys, Under-16 boys and Under-18 girls.
“It’s kind of cool because we made it in all three divisions, which is representing pretty well for Santa Barbara,” said Peterson, who at 15 years old will be competing in the Under-18 girls for the second straight year. “If we all win our divisions it would be the coolest thing in the world.”
It would also be one of the more difficult things in the world. No American (Hawaii has a separate team) has won a gold medal since Ben Bourgeois won in 1996. Santa Barbara does have a successful history at the event, however, as Tom Curren won the inaugural event in 1980 and Chris Brown was champion in 1988.
Conner, 16, is the veteran of the group having been to the Junior World Championship in France in ’08 and Ecuador in ’09. Younger brother Parker, 14, made the traveling team for the first time.
“I was so psyched,” Parker said about being picked. “I definitely didn’t know 100 percent.”
Parker joins Kolohe Andino, Jake Halstead and Trevor Thornton in the Under-16 boys.
“I’d been to the contest before. I went to France and I saw how awesome the contest was and how sick it was. I was just, ‘I can’ t wait to go.'”
That was 2008. In 2009, Parker was forced to wait another year after missing out on the traveling team that went to Ecuador. He’s going to New Zealand in ’10.
Even though it’s Parker’s first big international competition, he says he’s looking forward to the travel experience the most.
The coastline in Piha, New Zealand on Monday
“Just going to New Zealand,” Parker said “It’s going to be so much fun. I heard only good things about it.”
Piha is a small “off the beaten path” town 45 minutes outside of Auckland. It’s a west-facing beach break in cold water with breathtaking headlands to either side.
Once the contest is over, the Coffin family plans to take an RV to other spots in New Zealand.
“Drive Thru New Zealand, Coffin Edition,” joked Parker.
But Conner knows that once the Olympic-style opening ceremonies are finished and the surfers are in the water, the vacation ends and the work begins.
“If he’d be willing to take it, I’d be happy to give him advice,” Conner said. “I know how hard it is. I know how physically demanding it is. That’s probably the best piece of advice I’d give someone.”
Peterson can attest to that. At 14, Lakey registered a 19th-place finish in Ecuador against girls several years her elder. Peterson has made strides since then, winning her first NSSA National Championship in June.
“Because I did it last year, I know what to expect,” Lakey said.
Even so, Peterson needed her sponsor, Roxy, to rush her two new wetsuits after arriving in Piha to find the water much colder than expected.
The town of Piha, still relatively quiet a few days before the contest.
Conner said he would bring 5 or 6 boards and plenty of warm jackets.
The three know each other well from growing up surfing together on the NSSA circuit and at home breaks. Each one surfs in more than 20 contests a year.
“I’m excited Parker is coming this year because he’s super fun to hang out with,” Peterson said.
Legendary surfer Ian Cairns is a part of the team for the first time this year also, taking over the coaching duties from Joey Burran.
Peterson, super competitive in her own right, has liked his no-frills style.
“Ian’s perfect for the job,” she said. “He really likes to intimidate you but he’s not that intimidating. Sorry Ian, but you’re not. Actually, you kind of are but that’s ok.
“He’s just a big Australian that looks like he wants to kill you every second but inside he’s like the biggest teddy bear.”
Cairns, who has lived in Southern California for most of the past 30 years, will try to help the Americans knock off his young countrymen, who’ve won the team title four years in a row.
Conner has the help of Evan Thompson, Evan Geiselman and Andrew Doheny in the Boys 18s while Peterson is joined by Courtney Conlogue, Kaleigh Gilchrist and Taylor Pitz.
USA has finished in fourth place the last two years and will have to overcome the usual suspects – Australia, Brazil and Hawaii – in order to improve on that standing.
“I think our team looks really good,” Conner said. “They all rip and are really good competitors.”
